Hunter High has been having construction in the back of the school for the last year or so, during this construction we have seen how it has been affecting the school and students in positive and negative ways. An effect of the construction has also been about the discussion about what classes are going to put into this new hallway. There have also been mentions about how long this construction will take and it is very possible that it might not be completed until the juniors this year have graduated. This new might also mean that Hunter might be receiving some more renovations from the district in the future, this is because it is one of the schools in Granite School District that 50% – 70% of the building needs renovation and repair. While this may seem like a lot, there are other High Schools in Granite District that need it more than us. An example of this would be Cyprus and Skyline needing more than 85% of its building renovated or repaired.

Last year, Hunter High School received the permission and funds from the district to construct a new hallway east of the building. The main purpose of the hallway at that moment was that it would be a place to move the relo classes instead of being so far from the school and sometimes suffering from cold weather, its other purpose being to alleviate crowding in the school. This new wing will include 12 general purpose classrooms with glass walls, a new ¨maker¨ space with direct access to an outside courtyard, 2 new science labs, a new conference room, and a commons area. This new wing will also be 2 stories. This new hallway was estimated to finish in summer of 2020 and construction started in early 2019 with plans in 2018. It has now been almost an entire year since construction started and progress can be seen.

This construction had many early effects that in turn affected everyone from the faculty to the students. Students were affected mostly in the way that a huge back part of the school is now blocked off, this included a big chunk of what used to be parking because of this students now had to park in new areas and one of these new parts was a section of the driving range. Another effect was that it took longer to get to some classes due to some of the routes now being closed. The early construction was something students had to get used to and eventually students did, but as time went on, new effects from the construction sprouted out. 

The mid to current construction affected classes more due to the plans being completely made. This meant that it was now time to clear up the construction site and start building the foundations of this new hall segment. The most obvious effect was the noise that distracted almost all the classes of the east side of the school. These noise consisted of the buzzing of the machines, the collapse of small buildings, the pounding of jackhammers, and the sizzling of welding rods. Sometimes, for the entire class, all that could be heard were these sounds. This was very distracting, but there wasn’t anything that could be done to dampen these sounds, so we got used to it. 

When this hallway is finally complete most of these problems will be solved and this new wing will contribute more to the school than its negative effects during its construction. This new wing will feature multiple connection points to the existing building which will help reduce the congestion that has been seen in the school ever since the construction blocked off some areas. Another feature of this new addition is that it will stay functional even in the event of an emergency. Even if the hallway takes extra time to complete, it will surely help Hunter High.